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Islwyn MP claims police cuts could lead to rising crime levels

News | | Published: 15:00, Thursday March 12th, 2015.

Islwyn MP Chris Evans called a debate in Parliament recently to challenge the UK Government on police cuts in Wales.

Gwent Police will see its Government police grant fall by 5%, meaning funding will have been cut by a 30% in real terms over the last six years.

Mr Evans claimed Gwent Police will lose around 200 officers due to the cut, taking the force to just over 1,000.
He claimed reductions in officer numbers has had a dramatic effect on the police, businesses and public safety, that is being seen by a rise in crime, especially sex offences, violent crime and shoplifting.

Mr Evans said: “Rising crime, falling faith that problems will be dealt with, and the decreasing safety of our communities show that cuts to policing in Wales was wrong.

“Ministers must accept responsibility for making the wrong call and drop plans to compound this mistake with even worse budget cuts.

“Our police work tirelessly to keep us safe yet even with their dedication this may not be possible in the future.
“A thousand officers for 556,000 people, spread across 1,500km is simply not enough to keep our community safe.”
Ian Johnston, Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent, said: “I am very concerned about the rationale behind continuously reducing the budget of frontline policing.

“These on-going cuts are not sustainable and will only succeed in further stretching our already diminishing resources to dangerous levels in future.

“You can’t put a price on public safety and these brutal cuts are bound to have an impact on police service provision.

“We have already lost over 220 police officers in Gwent and nearly 170 staff members.
“I think people need to realise that as austerity measures bite even further, we will need to concentrate policing into priority areas first.

“I honestly don’t think the scale of planned cuts to the police service over the next few years has been understood by the public.”

But, Policing Minister Mike Penning has previously dismissed Mr Johnston’s claims and said that by cutting red tape and scrapping targets, police reform was working.

He said crime had fallen by more than a fifth under the current government.

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